Yukie Shiroma

Co-Artistic Director of Monkey Waterfall, Yukie is a third generation Okinawan-American born in Hawai‘i and raised in San Francisco. She has performed and taught dance and mask theatre work nationally and internationally for over twenty-five years. After receiving a MFA degree in dance from the University of Hawai‘i, she started the dance program at Mid-Pacific Institute, a private college-preparatory high school in Honolulu, where she was Director of Dance in the School of the Arts for twenty years. In 2006 she received the Hawai‘i State Foundation for Culture and the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship Award for her choreography and performance. In August 2006 she received a teaching certificate from the Kin Ryosho Classical Okinawan Dance Academy under the direction of Master Instructor, Cheryl Yoshie Nakasone.

Michael Harada

Michael Harada was born and raised in Hawai‘i and graduated from the University of Hawai‘i with a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking. His varied skills encompass drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, digital graphics, illustration, photography, video production, set design, prop, mask, puppet design and construction. His fascination with masks began in the early 90s when he started collaborating with Monkey Waterfall. Since then he has been sucked into the world of theatre and has designed and constructed masks, props and sets for Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Kumu Kahua, Manoa Valley Theatre and Monkey Waterfall.

Ben Moffat

Co-Artistic Director of Monkey Waterfall, Ben received a BA degree in English from Vassar College before moving to Hawai‘i to study Asian theatre. One of the first group of foreigners invited to perform traditional opera in China, he received his MFA in Asian theatre and directing from the University of Hawai‘i in 1986. Ben's work with masks, stilts, and puppets began with the Shoestring Theatre of Maine and led to collaborative creations with dancer/choreographer Yukie Shiroma. In 1992 they were awarded a Hawai‘i State Dance Council Choreographic Award for their signature piece. He currently directs the drama program at Windward Community College.